Education at the Centre of Global English

Succesful communication in English for study advisors and other support staff

Feel the need to increase your English speaking and listening skills and gain more confidence in speaking English?

The course Succesful communication in English is intended for study advisors and other support staff who need to communicate with (international) students and colleagues in English. We focus on the conversations you have in in your daily practice.

Scope & programme

4 in-class sessions of 2 hours
4 weeks self-study in the online course MOOC English Pronunciation in a Global World
assessment of learner progress
group size: max 5 participants | course materials included
certification upon completion of the course (course attendance and course work)
taught by the Centre for Global English, Faculty of Humanities, VU Amsterdam
please find the full programme for the course here

Fee

€350

Dates & location

November/December 2023. The in-class sessions will be taught at VU campus.

Registration & contact

For registration, please complete the registration form Successful Communication in English
Registration deadline: 2 October 2023
For any queries, please send an e-mail to the Centre of Global English course administration: cge@vu.nl, citing the course title: Successful Communication in English.

English Pronunciation training

This training is intended for learners of English who want to work on their English pronunciation according to their personal and/or professional needs.

Goals

'intelligibility' and 'comprehensibility': for you to be understood by other speakers of English and for you to understand speakers with other English accents.
credibility': for you to develop an English accent that is not perceived unfavourably by others.
'identity': for you to develop a personal English accent with features that you strive for.
'agency'; to give you control over your own English accent and to provide tools with which you will be able to continue to develop your English accent.

Structure

You attend the online course MOOC English Pronunciation in a Global World for 6 consecutive weeks in your own time.

Before the start of the training, you submit an audio recording of your English pronunciation.
At the start of the training, you will have an intake meeting with your instructor to assess your current English pronunciation and to discuss your personal goals.
Based on the intake, your instructor will put together a tailor-made package for you to attend the MOOC in the next 6 weeks.
During the 6 weeks that you attend the MOOC, you will have a meeting with your instructor to discuss your progress and for you to ask questions.
After 6 weeks, you submit a new recording of your English pronunciation.
To conclude the training, your instructor will assess your progress and give you feedback and tips.
Upon successful completion of the training, you will receive a certificate from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
The meetings with your instructor may be organized either on VU campus or online.

Dates

By request

Fee

€255 p.p.

Contact hours

2 hours

The training can also be organized for small groups upon request.

Contact information

Centre for Global English, cge@vu.nl

Courses at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Laura Rupp teaches the Global English course and the English pronunciation course from the BA programme English Language and Communication Studies in the Faculty of Humanities at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Guided learning

The Centre for Global English can guide a group of English learners through the online course MOOC English Pronunciation in a Global World; for example a group of students at your university. The fee for guided learning will depend on your specific needs and the size of the group. Contact us (cge@vu.nl) for a consultation to explore possibilities.

Mentor programme for students

In our mentor programme, we offer students and others interested the opportunity to obtain teaching experience in the online environment MOOC English Pronunciation in a Global World that has welcomed English learners from 191 countries. Our mentor programme runs according to the reciprocal Principle of Community Engagement: we also learn from our mentors who may be able to provide expert input, for example regarding pronunciation challenges for English learners with particular linguistic backgrounds. More information about the mentor programme.

Workshop for English teachers

We offer workshop for teachers of English. Issues that may be addressed are:

What is important in teaching English pronunciation in a global world?
How may teachers build on the linguistic backgrounds of their pupils for them to better understand and appropriately handle variation in English? In this context, we may address wider issues like language awareness, inclusion and diversity (cf. VU Mixed Classroom Educational Model).
Do teachers themselves wish to further develop their English pronunciation and/or their knowledge of English pronunciation?

The fee and details of a workshop (duration, structure, etc.) will depend on your specific needs and the size of the group. Contact us (cge@vu.nl) for a consultation to explore possibilities.

Tailor-made services, consultancy

On the basis of our expertise in English pronunciation and experience running a successful online MOOC course (112,000+ participants; rated 4.8/5), we offer tailor-made services or consultancy. Topics include:

How to improve mutual understanding of English accents spoken in your organization or by external partners?
How to provide for successful learning in an online course?

The fee and details of these services will depend on your specific needs. Contact us (cge@vu.nl) for a consultation to explore possibilities.

MOOC English Pronunciation in a Global World

The MOOC (Massive Open and Online Course) English Pronunciation in a Global World is a freely accessible course in English Pronunciation, created by Laura Rupp. The course runs on the online platform FutureLearn of the Open University, UK. After registration, the course can be accessed for 10 weeks.

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